Got to Cafe 27 fairly early as usual to set up and troubleshoot my bass rig, and got everything up and running fairly quickly. I had been having some "gremlins" pop up now and then over the last couple of gigs, so I wanted to be sure everything was going to run smoothly. It was crazy hot there, too by the way. We were all soaking wet before we ever started playing. Got through soundcheck and the first set with no issues. My rig and more importantly, the band sounded really good! Finnish up the first set, and took our break. Go up to get ready to start the second set, Played a few notes, all good...a few seconds before the first song of the next set is counted off, I hit a note on the bass, and NOTHING.
Uh Oh.
Check that power is going to pedalboard, it's fine, wireless transmitter working fine, look at "2 Ton," my 26 year old amp, and the power light is off. Tried the power switch a few times, changed outlets it was plugged in, nothing. Thankfully I was still sending signal via direct box to the PA, so I just told the guys to start off the set, put a little more bass in the monitors, and I would get through the gig with that sound. I left the amp on in case it managed to turn itself back on, but by the end of the gig there was nothing coming from it. I either overheated it or something finally gave out after 26 years. Needless to say, I decided that my plan of retiring that amp next year was going to have to happen sooner than I expected. I have a show with Dirk Diggler at Flossies on Sunday, and there is an outside chance that I may have my new rig by then. If not, I'm going to use my old PA setup that I used with Triad as my "rig of doom" to do the show. Upgrading from 150 watts of bass to 1000 watts, so I look forward to moving even more air! That, and a crazy awesome new bass on order, I can say that my rig upgrade is pretty much done!
The guys in the band tried to kill me Sunday...lol
Our last set, we tried something for the second time, where they stacked ALL of the AC/DC and Whitesnake songs that I sing in our shows all back to back in a row for the last set. Ended up being one of those ideas that looked GREAT on paper, but I was dying by the end of the set! I could literally feel my vocal chords getting ready to say "nope we're done" on me! Told the guys that we couldn't do a set like that anymore. Plus, it felt weird to me to be playing all those songs in a row like that. In a cover band situation, I think it's more fun to mix things up, almost like a radio station or a playlist. Add in the heat and I'm surprised I didn't pass out! I have to start hydrating myself better, that's for sure! So, Flossies this weekend, and so far one Cafe 27 gig in October and November confirmed at this point, and I think they are both on the Upcoming Gigs page.
May have some Triad news soon...
I have a bunch of lyrics to write...
That is all...TB